


choices made in sp[r]ite

by Anonymous



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artemis Fowl Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Humor, Elf!Octavia, F/M, Humor, Mythical Beings & Creatures, New Adult, Pre-Relationship, Roommates, Sprite!Murphy, Strangers to Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 09:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30069948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Octavia scowled, lying back down on the bed, wishing for nothing more than to wake up from whatever nightmare she was currently residing in.  Sure, she had been a little bit unhinged since graduating from Haven City Prep School, but that didn’t mean Bellamy had to leave her in a cell just because she got in another fight!or... and they were cellmates (oh my god, they were cellmates)
Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Octavia Blake, Octavia Blake/John Murphy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7
Collections: TROPED: Madness 2.0





	choices made in sp[r]ite

**Author's Note:**

> A submission for Round 1 of Troped: Madness!
> 
> Focus Character: Octavia  
> Theme: New Adult  
> Tropes: Roommates, Based on a Children's Book Series (I chose Artemis Fowl!)
> 
> I went for the "characters existing in the universe" (similar to canonverse) route with this one!
> 
> Thank you to my dear friends from another fandom who helped me brainstorm a title for this one!

Octavia blinked, sitting up slowly. Her head hurt, and as she carefully touched her fingers to her scalp, she found a bump that could have been the size of an egg, for all she knew.

Too bad she didn’t quite remember what had happened yet.  


She glanced around the room, trying to take stock of where she was. Three walls were concrete, and the fourth had bars. Her breath caught in her throat. Bars. She was in a cell. A cell that apparently had dusty, grimy walls and the tiniest amount of light pouring in through a slotted window at the very top of the wall opposite the bars. She was sure she even saw a spider crawling across the floor.

Now she was acutely aware of the poor quality cot she was sitting on, and as she glanced around the room again, her eyes finally fell on a figure sitting opposite her, watching her. As she blinked more to clear her vision, rubbing her pointed ears, she took in as much as she could. Male, definitely, although sometimes you couldn’t tell with some fairies. She blinked again, noticing he had wings.  _ Lucky _ , she thought, her mood turning sour. What she wouldn’t give for a pair of wings to use on a trip to the surface. The LEP had them under strict lockdown, though, after the Disneyland Paris debacle two years ago, and despite her best attempts, she hadn’t been able to convince her brother to be a bad boy for once and steal a pair from work for her.

The sprite was watching her, tilting his head to the side. “You done staring?” he asked, a smirk on his face. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. Stare as much as you’d like.”

Octavia scowled, rubbing her temples. The worst part was that she was running dry, so she couldn’t even use magic to heal the bump on her head. She was stuck with the throbbing pain right above her ear and the spotty vision. Clearly, she was also stuck with the boy, as well, as she couldn’t even hear the guards outside the cell.

“What’d you do to get yourself in here?” the sprite asked, leaning back, putting his hands behind his head. “You were kicking and screaming when they brought you in. I was rooting for you, honestly, but the guard got you with his baton.” He tapped the side of his head. “Knocked you out like a light. I got you into the cot - you’re welcome, by the way.”

“I, er…” She thought back, trying to piece together the fragments of memories in her mind. “I was at the Police Plaza, and I got into it with a gremlin who was trying to peddle something.” As the memory came back to her, she snorted. “He was clearly a scammer, and I called him out. Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by his buddies.”

The sprite whistled. “Dang. They pick you up for inciting violence or something?”

Octavia nodded. “Something like that, I guess. I should be out of here soon, though. My brother’s with the LEP, he’ll come bust me out.”

“Your brother… he’s got curly hair? A beard?” Octavia nodded, and the sprite laughed. “He was here about fifteen minutes ago. The captain asked if he wanted you released and he said, I quote, she’s caused enough problems and should spend some time in here to straighten out her priorities. Sorry, elfie, you’re stuck in here.”

Her jaw dropped. How could her brother do something like that to her? Octavia scowled, lying back down on the bed, wishing for nothing more than to wake up from whatever nightmare she was currently residing in. Sure, she had been a little bit unhinged since graduating from Haven City Prep School, but that didn’t mean Bellamy had to leave her in a cell just because she got in another fight!

She could almost hear him now. He would tell her she just needed to settle down and get a real job and make something of her life instead of running rampant around the city, trying to prolong her youth as much as possible. Octavia scoffed at that thought, throwing her arm over her eyes.

“D’arvit! D’arvit, d’arvit, d’arvit!” she groaned, hitting the cot with her free hand.

“You gonna be good?” the sprite asked.

Octavia peeked sideways at him. “Leave me alone.”

The sprite leaned back against the concrete, watching her. “Just asking. Looks like we’ll be in here together for a while. Well, at least until my trial.”

Curiosity started to bubble inside Octavia until she couldn’t help it any longer. She sat up, wincing as another dull ache rippled through her head, and stared across at him. “What are you in here for, anyway?”

He smirked. “Convinced a couple of goblins to set a house on fire. They’re idiots, though, and gave me up right away.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Which house?”

“Does it matter?”

“Just curious.”

The sprite’s expression went dark for the first time since she had woken up. “The bastard who refused to give my mom therapy for her Atlantis Complex,” he said, wrapping his arms around himself. “He deserved it. I don’t care what they give me.”

A rush of compassion passed through Octavia. “My mother was sick, too. Not with Atlantis Complex, but something different. She didn’t get help, either.”

“Did you set fire to the doctor’s house?” His voice was dry, toneless.

“No.”

“If we ever get out of here, want me to help you get some goblins together?”

She chuckled nervously. “No.”

“Worth a shot. Name’s Murphy, by the way.” Just like that, he had turned back on the sprite charm, his wings fluttering a bit, and Octavia had to remind herself he had just openly admitted to a violent crime.

Well, he hadn’t actually done the crime. Just orchestrated it.

“I’m Octavia,” she replied, shrugging.

“I know. Your brother said it earlier. Nice name. Suits you.”

She squinted across at him, letting out a puff of air through her lips. “You know that’s not going to work on me, right?”

“What?”

“The flirting.”

“I wasn’t flirting. Trust me, if I was flirting, you wouldn’t be able to resist it.” He grinned at her, waggling his eyebrows, and Octavia scoffed.

“Yeah, right,” she said, rolling her eyes and lying down.

As it turned out, being locked in a room with someone made it easy to start talking to them.

Over the next several hours, Octavia learned a lot about Murphy. She learned that he had grown up in Atlantis and had only moved to Haven City two years ago to seek medical care for his mother. She learned that his father had left shortly after his mother’s diagnosis, and Murphy hadn’t seen him since. She learned that he lived alone with his mother now, trying everything he could to help with her illness despite the lack of proper medical care.

In turn, she shared about how she had never known her father, and how after their mother had died when she was five, she and Bellamy had been raised by Bellamy’s father. She told Murphy about how she had never felt like his daughter, about how she had always been closer to Bellamy. About how she had gotten into trouble at least once a week at school, about how really, it had been a cry for attention. She had wanted to be noticed, so she had acted out.

Murphy was quiet the entire time she was telling her story, the only sound from his side of the cell the occasional fluttering of his wings.

“I know what that’s like,” he said, after she was silent for a moment. “Just wanting people to know you exist.”

She could only hum, leaning her head back against the cool concrete. It was nice to talk to someone other than her brother. Murphy was someone who understood her, even though they had only known each other for an afternoon.

When a hairy gnome came to give them their meal, Octavia’s nose crinkled at the less-than-appetizing portion on her plate.

“Yeah,” Murphy said, drawing out the word. “The food here isn’t great.”

“How long have you been in here, exactly?” Octavia asked.

“Long enough to know the food isn’t great.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Alright, then.” She picked at the food, trying to find something she could eat. Across from her, Murphy had already eaten just about everything on his tray and was turning a breadroll over between his fingers.

“Hey, how’s your head?” he asked, suddenly.

“Not great,” she replied, nibbling on her own breadroll. “I have a killer headache. If I had my magic, I could heal it, but I haven’t been able to complete the Ritual in a couple of years. Every time I think about heading up to the surface, something comes up. I get in trouble, or there’s some crisis with that mud person who’s always in the news.”

Murphy nodded slowly. “Honestly, I kind of admire that mud man. He’s the kind of guy who always gets what he wants, no matter what he has to do.” She hummed, and he chuckled. “But anyway… you know, I could try healing it if you’d like. I’m not the greatest with healing, but a headache shouldn’t be too bad, right?” He stared at her for a moment, and Octavia finally realized he was waiting for her to say something.

“I-- oh, yeah! Right. Headaches aren’t too hard. Even with your sprite magic,” she teased, pushing herself off the bed and crossing the cell to sit beside him.

“Hey, I’ll take piss poor magic over being wingless any day,” Murphy retorted, putting his fingers on her temples. His touch was cool, and Octavia bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to focus on the fact that he was touching her.

“ _ Heal _ ,” he breathed, and Octavia felt the trickle of magic flow through her, pinpointing the bump on her head and the pain she was feeling. Some residual sparks made their way to the inside of her cheek, and they tingled on her tongue.

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” Octavia replied, a smirk tugging at her lips. “ _ For a sprite _ .”

Murphy snorted, pushing her shoulder. “Rude.”

“I never said I was nice,” she said, returning to her own cot.

One of the things that had always frustrated Bellamy about her was Octavia’s tendency to come home with a new boyfriend (or girlfriend) every other month or so. Atom had been her first boyfriend, and her first kiss, although when Bellamy had found them together at home, Octavia’s shirt half off, he had put an end to them almost immediately. Jasper had been her attempt at appeasing Bellamy, and he had been sweet, but their relationship hadn’t lasted very long. Kissing Niylah the pixie at the Haven City Night was supposed to have been an act of rebellion, but it had turned into much more than that. After Niylah, there had been Diyoza, an older elf, and most recently, Levitt. Levitt had been sweet, but Octavia had always craved something more than what he could offer.

They had broken up nearly a week ago, sending Octavia on a bender that had ended with her picking a fight with a gremlin outside the Police Plaza. And now she was here.

With Murphy.

She wouldn’t deny he was cute (for a sprite, of course). It was more than that, though. Murphy was the first fairy since Niylah who really seemed to get it. To understand her.

Too bad he was going on trial, and Octavia was just stuck in the cell until her brother decided she had been punished enough.

“What are you thinking about?” Murphy asked, suddenly, lying down on his cot.

“Going to the surface,” Octavia lied swiftly, lying down, facing across to him.

“To complete the Ritual?”

“That, yeah. And maybe staying up there. I’m done school now, and I can’t stay under my brother’s wing too much longer or I’ll be smothered, y’know?” She paused, and Murphy hummed to show he was listening. “I’ll have the shield, and  _ mesmer _ . Maybe I could figure out how to blend in with the mud people. I know I’ve heard stories of fairies doing that, and it’s easier for elves.” Thankfully, it was something she had actually thought about before, even if she hadn’t been thinking of it at that moment.

“Because of the lack of wings,” Murphy cut in, smirking.

“Shut up,” Octavia replied, rolling her eyes. “But yeah. I just… don’t know if I want to stay in Haven City for the rest of my life.”

“I get that,” Murphy said. He brushed his hair back, out of his face, and Octavia followed the motion with her eyes. “Sometimes I think about going back to Atlantis, but I honestly don’t know what I’d do there.”

“What would you do about your mom?” she asked, frowning.

He shrugged. “She’d have to come with me. There’s no one else I’d trust to look after her.”

Octavia was about to reply when she heard footsteps approaching the cell. She bolted upright, sitting on the edge of her cot as Bellamy stepped into view.

“You’re awake,” he said, crossing his arms in front of him.

“No thanks to the officers who brought me in,” Octavia retorted, rising to her feet and walking to the bars. “So, when am I getting out of here? It’s not like I killed anyone.”

Bellamy’s face was impassive. “I have to sign off on your release,” he said, meeting her gaze, “but I’m heading to the surface tomorrow for a few days, so you’ll have to wait.”

Octavia scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I just yelled at a freaking gremlin! He’s the one who called in his friends! Why aren’t they in here?”

“You need to learn your lesson,” Bellamy replied, his jaw clenching. “Maybe spending a few days in a cell will make it sink in. You’re an adult, O. You need to learn how to act like one.”

“I act like an adult!” Octavia snapped, grabbing the bars.

“Very adult of you,” her brother said, dryly. “Think about what you want your life to be like and I’ll see you in a few days.”

Octavia groaned loudly. “Would you at least bring back an acorn so I can do the Ritual when I get out?”

Her brother didn’t answer, instead turning and walking away.

“Screw you!” Octavia shouted after him. “I hope a troll finds you!”

Murphy was silent as she turned around, and she arched an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not going to say anything,” he said, shrugging.

“I don’t really want him to run into a troll,” she admitted, sitting back down on her cot. Murphy merely nodded, lying back with his hands behind his head.

It was a long night of tossing and turning on the tiny cot while Murphy snored a few feet away from her. By the time the lights came on in a blinding flash in the morning, Octavia was almost glad, since it meant her cellmate was groaning and sitting up.

“Sleep well?” she asked, pretending she hadn’t spent the entire night awake, cursing Bellamy’s name to all corners of the Lower Elements and back and glaring daggers at the back of Murphy’s head.

“Like a log,” Murphy drawled, swinging his legs over the edge of his cot. “You?”

“I’ve never slept with someone who snored,” Octavia quipped, standing up and stretching. She was still wearing the tank top and leggings she had chosen the day before, although her jacket was suspiciously missing, and she didn’t miss the way Murphy eyed the exposed strip of skin at her waist as her top rode up a bit. Yanking down the fabric, she shot a mock glare his way. “Eyes up top, sprite.”

“Come on,” Murphy said, a low chuckle playing at his lips, “I thought we were getting to know each other.”

Octavia jokingly scoffed, but the arrival of breakfast distracted her from further teasing him.

“At least it’s a bit more palatable,” she said, picking at the food. It looked like some kind of porridge, and as she tasted it, she was pleasantly surprised. It had a bit of a sweetness to it, not entirely bland. All in all, it was better than the dinner in her mind.

Murphy was watching her with a raised eyebrow and she gave him a questioning glance.

“Palatable? What kind of fancy-ass word is that?”

“Shut up,” Octavia replied, although she was grinning. “Bellamy says it. He likes to cook.”

“Can he cook up a release order for me when he gets back?”

She couldn’t help it. Octavia burst into giggles, dropping her chin and letting her hair cover her face.

“You’re hilarious,” she said, finally, glancing back up at him. The way his face erupted into a craggy grin stayed in her thoughts for a while afterwards.

She had to wonder - how often did Murphy have someone to talk to, someone who was aware of their own mind? She didn’t know much about the Atlantis Complex, but she did know it completely changed a person, and if Murphy had lived alone with his mother, he probably hadn’t talked to other fairies in a while.

Strangely enough, she could empathize. After all, most of her time was spent with her brother, or on her own. She didn’t talk about things with other people, except for Niylah.

There wasn’t much to do in the prison cell, though, so she kept talking to Murphy.

“It’s weird, hey?” he asked suddenly, a few hours into the day. They had moved to the floor, sitting side by side against the rear wall of the cell, and were playing tic-tac-toe in the dust on the floor.

Octavia glanced up after making her next move, an O in the top left square. “What?”

“Being adults? For years, I was just cruising along, taking advantage of people giving me leeway cuz I was a kid,” Murphy said, studying the game and taking entirely too long for his next move. When he finally marked an X in the square under her O, Octavia smirked. She had him beat.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, marking an O in the top right square. “I get that. Bellamy didn’t care so much when I was a kid, but now that I’m supposedly mature, now he wants me to settle down.”

Murphy nodded, drawing an X in the top middle square. “I just wish there was, like, a How-To guide for being adults. We have the Book, but that doesn’t help.”

Octavia hummed, barely containing her excitement as she marked the middle square and drew a line diagonally across the game. “I win.”

“I--” Murphy sputtered, staring at her clearly winning line. “That’s--”

“Me, winning?” Octavia asked, tilting her head innocently.

The sprite sputtered some more, finally dragging his fingers through the dust, effectively erasing the game. “You have no proof.”

“Sore loser, much?”

“You cheated.”

“You can’t cheat at tic-tac-toe,” Octavia pointed out, giggling.

After a moment, Murphy finally deflated, his shoulders sagging inwards a bit. “Fine.”

For a moment, Octavia wondered if he was actually upset. Just as she was about to apologise, he burst out laughing.

“Gotcha!”

She gave him a mock scowl. “Rude.”

“I never said I was nice,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

A wave of deja vu hit her as she pushed herself to her feet. Murphy followed after her, his hand going to the small of her back as she closed her eyes, feeling a headrush coming on.

“You good?” he asked, a hint of something that might have been concern leaching into his voice.

“Yeah,” Octavia said, stepping out of his touch. “Just stood up too fast.”

“It’s not your head, is it? You did have a pretty big bump.”

She turned to him. “How would you know?”

“I stood over you while you were unconscious and stared at you like a hungry goblin,” Murphy said dryly. When she scrunched up her nose, he let out a bark of laughter. “When I healed you last night, dork.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say in that moment. Just ‘oh’.

He reached out, brushing her hair back out of her face. “Want me to give you another blast? Y’know, because my sprite magic is so weak compared to elf magic?” He paused, smirking. “That is, if you had any.”

“You’re an idiot,” Octavia replied, meeting his gaze as his fingers remained by her ear. “But yeah, that’d be great.”

Murphy grinned, nodding back at his cot. “Sit down, then.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Still, she sat and he settled next to her, repeating the same process as before. This time, the healing felt like it was stronger, but she chalked it up to Murphy knowing what he was doing that time, knowing what he was feeling for.

When he finished, his fingers lingered on her temples and he gave her the smallest of smiles. “Better?”

She nodded, sliding back, away from the warmth of his touch.

For the next couple of days, they continued to talk and play small games in the dust. Under any normal circumstances, Octavia would have been annoyed at being stuck in a cell for so long, but with Murphy there, she had someone to talk to. Someone to share increasingly personal details about herself with. Someone to make the situation more bearable.

On the third day, there was movement outside the cell. They were in the middle of a game of checkers (it had been difficult to set that up in the dust but Murphy had figured it out), but Octavia perked up almost immediately.

“Bellamy?” she asked, rising to her feet and turning to the bars.

It wasn’t Bellamy standing on the other side, though. It was one of the guards, a surly elf she recognized as one of Bellamy’s friends, Miller.

“Octavia,” Miller said, nodding at her. “Surviving in here?”

She scoffed. “What, did Bellamy ask you to check on me? Bit late for that. He’s letting me rot away in this cell.”

“Chill out,” Miller said, rolling his eyes although there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You’ve only been in here a couple of days, and you’re in one of the nicer cells. Anyway, I’m not here for you. I’m here for him.” He nodded past her and she glanced over her shoulder at Murphy. The sprite was on his feet, his expression guarded.

“Time for my trial?” he asked, his eyes downcast. Miller merely nodded, and Murphy took a few steps forward. “It’s been nice knowing you,” he said to Octavia, patting her elbow before stepping in front of her.

“Stand back,” Miller told her. Stunned, she obeyed, going to the back of the cell. All too quickly, the door had opened, Murphy had been cuffed, and the door had closed.

All too quickly, she was alone in the cell.

The rest of the day, she sat on her cot, staring down at her lap, her hair covering her face. It was oppressively quiet, and she didn’t like it one bit.

Was this her future? Sitting in cells while her brother taught her a lesson?

She wasn’t sure she wanted that.

When her supper arrived, she nibbled on the breadroll, feeling the Murphy-shaped hole grow wider within her. Shortly after finishing her food, she lay down on the cot and closed her eyes.

She even missed the snoring.

In the morning, she woke up to the blinding light pouring in from the hall. Octavia blinked, sitting up, taking in the figure standing on the other side of the bars.

“So, how was it?” Bellamy asked, his arms crossed in front of him.

She pushed herself to her feet, walking up to the bars. “It wasn’t so bad,” she said, raising an eyebrow as a challenge.

It didn’t work. Bellamy held up a piece of paper, showing her. “I signed your release papers. You’re free to go. Just… please don’t do anything to get yourself in trouble again?”

“No promises,” she replied, sullenly. Her brother opened the cell door and she stepped out, glancing sideways at him. “I’m going home to have a nice, long shower, and then maybe go incite a goblin rebellion or something.” It felt strange to be outside the cell, and she couldn’t put her finger on why.

“Hey,” Bellamy said, grabbing her wrist. “You okay?”

Octavia pulled her arm free, shrugging. “I’m fine. Look, I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment.”

“O…” Bellamy shook his head, biting his lip. “You’re not a--”

“Don’t give me that crap,” Octavia said, cutting him off. “I know you wish I was more settled down, but I’m not. I’m not like you, Bell. I’m not LEP material. I just want to…” she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

“You want to travel,” Bellamy said, pressing his lips together.

Octavia was looking anywhere but at her brother’s face. “Kinda, yeah.”

“You should. You could get out there and see what else is out in the Lower Elements. I hear Atlantis is pretty fun. It has a nice party scene… as long as you don’t get into fights with people.” Bellamy was trying to make a joke, and Octavia graced him with a half-hearted chuckle. “You could maybe even… I remember you used to love playing fairy-lacrosse. I hear there’s a league in Atlantis that’s pretty competitive. They even go up to the surface and use some uninhabited land in Russia for the championship game.”

“Wouldn’t you miss me?” Octavia asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Every day,” Bellamy replied, letting out a breath. “But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple of days, and I think I realized I’ve been kind of keeping you here against your will. You should get to go see the world and find whatever it is you want to do, and I can always come visit you… or you could always come home. You know, there will always be a spot for you here.”

Octavia let out a breath of her own, finally meeting Bellamy’s eyes. “You’re being serious?”

“Dead serious.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Okay.”

“Oh, and…” Bellamy reached into his pocket and handed her an acorn. “For you.”

Her eyes lit up. “Thank you,” she breathed, clutching the acorn tightly.

“I’m sorry I made you stay in here a bit,” Bellamy said, swallowing. “I was just…”

“I know,” Octavia said quickly. “I get it. I promise I’ll try to stay out of trouble from now on. Try, being the important part.”

It was the truth. At some point in the last couple of days, Octavia had realized that she was spending too much time running around rampant, and now that Bellamy had given his blessing for her to leave, she was finally sure she could find some place to settle down, away from the big city.

He laughed, and she joined in, throwing her arms around him. “I love you, Bell.”

“I love you too,” he said, pulling back.

She paused, considering for a moment, then finally let out a breath. “Do you know what happened to Murphy?”

Her brother’s brow crinkled. “Who?”

Octavia gripped her elbow with her opposite hand. “The sprite who was in the cell with me.”

For a moment, Bellamy’s brow was furrowed. When his eyes finally widened in realisation, Octavia flushed, turning her eyes downwards.

“The trial’s ongoing,” he said, shrugging. “He’ll probably be put away for a few months, though. At least.”

Octavia frowned at that, and her brother stared at her, a question on his lips.

“It’s not fair,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around herself. “The doctor wouldn’t treat his mother’s Atlantis Complex. He was just… angry. And it’s not like he actually did it.”

Bellamy stared at her, confusion written in his expression. “He still orchestrated it.”

She snorted. “Orchestrated. That’s such a big word.” Murphy would have laughed if she used it. “I guess… I dunno, I kind of get why he did it. Mom was sick, too, and she didn’t get the medicine she needed.”

They were silent for a long time, standing in the bright corridor. When another LEP officer brought in a screaming goblin, Octavia blinked, swiping the back of her hand across her eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll see you around, big brother,” she said, lightly punching Bellamy’s shoulder before marching out, her thoughts lingering on the sprite she had started to consider a friend.

Too bad she would probably never see him again.

Five months passed. Octavia did what Bellamy suggested and moved to Atlantis, and immediately tried out for the fairy-lacrosse league. Of course, she made it on a team. After all, she had been the best fairy-lacrosse player in Haven City Prep School. Living on her own was difficult at first, but soon she fell into an easy rhythm. When Bellamy visited her a month into her new life, he even admitted to being pleasantly surprised at how well she was handling herself in her new apartment.

Rent was high, though, and her part time job coaching the Little League wasn’t giving her enough money, so she started advertising for a roommate. Within days, she had plenty of applications. Without even looking at the names, she replied to each of them, inviting them for an interview.

The first few applicants were duds. There was a centaur who came in with muddy hooves, and a dwarf that left Octavia holding her nose the entire time he was in the apartment. By the middle of the afternoon, she was ready to quit.

There was only one more applicant. When she heard the knock on the door, she got up from the small sofa she had managed to scavenge from the dumpster outside the apartment and went to the door, opening it.

The sprite on the other side fluttered his wings. “I heard you were looking for a roommate.”

Octavia’s jaw dropped. “Murphy?”

“Hey there, elfie,” he said, flying into the room. “Been a while.” He looked different. His hair wasn’t as long, his t-shirt and pants were clean… he looked put together.

“How did you… when did you… what?” Octavia couldn’t form a coherent thought. While she had thought about him occasionally during the past few months, it had been merely passing, fleeting thoughts.

Murphy shrugged, glancing around the room. “Got out a couple of weeks ago. Mom was… not doing well, but apparently there’s a program or something, and she got into therapy with someone. Still don’t know how that happened.”

“That’s great,” Octavia breathed, still in disbelief, making a mental note to ask Bellamy about this program . “So… what are you doing here, then?”

“I was looking over the rosters for Atlantis fairy-lacrosse,” Murphy said, heading into the kitchen and opening the fridge as Octavia followed him with an indignant expression. “Saw the name ‘Octavia Blake’ and remembered you said you like spots, so I figured it was probably you. Mom’s in good hands, so I figured I’d come look you up. And then I saw the roommate ad.”

She chuckled nervously. “Yeah… turns out you have to be famous before you make a lot of money in sports.”

“Too bad. Well, I got a job at the only place in the neighbourhood that hires ex-cons,” Murphy said, closing the fridge and turning back to her. “We’re both a little out of our depths here. Whadya say?”

She didn’t even need to think twice about it. “I got a tic-tac-toe board. Wanna play a round before you bring in your stuff?”

Murphy was looking at her with a strange expression on his face, and she lifted a shoulder, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Sounds fun,” he said, going and sitting on the floor against the wall. “As long as you don’t cheat.”

“For the last time, you can’t cheat at this game!” Octavia exclaimed as she grabbed the game and sat down beside him. “You’re just too unobservant.”

“Rude.”

She giggled, laying down her first O. “How was prison, anyway. Did you make anyone your bitch?”

“Had a couple of goblins convinced I was a gang leader,” Murphy replied, laughing. “Which reminds me. The offer to burn that doctor’s house down is still on the table.”

She punched his shoulder. “Aren’t we supposed to be turning our lives around?”

“You are, but I never said anything about me.”

“Idiot.”

“You like me, elfie.”

“You wish, sprite.”

Of course, Murphy didn’t need to know how right he truly was. After everything, even though they had only known each other for a few days, there was just something about Murphy that made her feel comfortable in his presence.

“I swear to Danu, if I hear you snoring from the other bedroom…”

As the artificial light outside started to fade and Octavia smiled across at Murphy, she knew she was making the right decision.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos bring me joy!
> 
> Check out troped-fanfic-challenge on Tumblr for more info on the event and how to vote!


End file.
